My onions went in seed trays on 1st Jan - also Red Baron, plus Beds Champion (of course) and shallot Matador. I've had luck for the past couple of years with sowing old school in seed trays in seed compost then pricking out the best seedlings into deep-ish modules of homemade compost (garden compost...

I have a DeWalt battery strimmer. 2*5Ahr batteries is sufficient to strim the grass off from paths etc around the plot. I think I'm agreeing with OH that it is fine for maintaining, but not for clearing a long neglected plot. That's probably more a brush cutter job, with a proper blade not a nylon l...

retropants wrote: ↑Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:30 am I think that vermiculite is better for water retention, perlite is better for drainage

This is my thought too.

That's a pretty lush looking result ! I mentioned Mooli earlier. This can be a green manure option I reckon, it forms quite long roots - you can eat the odd one or two, then when you run out of ideas for what to do with them the rest will die and decay all on their own over winter, having opened up ...

I have never had a successful emergence of green manure. Trouble is I want to be able to follow a crop with it, and it sit over winter, rather than waste a bit of ground for a growing season. Brasicca type stuff is devoured by slugs if it does emerge. [I have similar problems with oriental greens - ...

I always plant potatoes in mid March, around my birthday. I know, strange way to celebrate. My thought is that planting them earlier, but deeper, delays them getting their shoots frosted, and saves all that mucking about earthing up. They will grow back from a bit of frost damage too. It takes a lot...

Trouble isn't it. Everything loves brassica; caterpillars, pigeons, rabbits, pheasant ... And if you manage to net well enough to keep that lot off, the slugs have them, perfectly protected from being predated by the birds !

Now, elsewhere on social media in comments on a post about no-dig, there was a debate about the wisdom of using corrugated cardboard in the garden or composting. Obviously there are some contaminants to be avoided - plasticised glossy board, and hot melt glue / staples / sticky tape. But what about ...

To give an opposing view - I've had a couple of shredders, a cheaper one of the spinny disk sort that made a lot of noise then broke, followed by the replacement - a Bosch one of the sort with a slowly rotating cutting/crushing gear. This has lasted longer (except for a design fault; don't leave it ...

I really like to apply manure on closed beds & then cover them with black or clear plastic I collect & re-use. This is my ideal as when I uncover it the worms seem to have been very happy & really break down the soil to a good depth so just a quick rake has it ready to use. I do tend to...

I tried No Dig & it was not successful in the slightest. Cardboard dutifully cleared of tape & put down with about 3" of brand new topsoil. Plants put in & some sows & all looked fine, little seedlings appeared & then both just sulked & died. I tried again a couple of t...

This no dig idea is all well and good, but ... If I spread cardboard on my plot, then 2" of my compost, it will guarantee a good blanket of weeds ! I see others suggest mulch should be 3" thick too - where on earth does the ordinary gardener obtain that much weed free compost ? There are a...

My Dad used flowers of sulphur to dress the cut surface, which is somewhat fungicidal.

Presuming the lime is to raise pH, I just use wood ash, of which I have plenty, instead. My cabbages grew better than anything else last year, so can't be doing too much harm.

Vesta packet curries were part of my student survival kit. Kept indefinitely and could be turned into something resembling food quite quickly. A better curry was to be had from the Students' Union snack bar for 80p, but the beer that was somehow needed to wash it down made it more expensive.